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More Than A Million Moms Strong Now: MomsRising Membership Growing Quickly!

During the Week of Mother’s Day 2009, Online Organization Increases Membership Fivefold

In just ten days, MomsRising.org, an online and on-the-ground organization for moms and everyone who has a mom saw its membership grow from just over 160,000 to 1,179,154 thanks to a customizable Mother’s Day video which, to date, has had more than 12 million views. MomsRising.org shared the video through its members and by partnering with like-minded organizations that also distributed and posted it.

The tongue-in-cheek video informed the recipient that she had been named “MomsRising Mother of the Year,” through a faux news story into which her name had been incorporated by the sender. The video included Beyoncé, a naked dog and a remarkably articulate baby, as well as a crawl describing the serious challenges mothers face in today’s world and workplace.

Lang Fisher of The Onion developed the clever and creative script, which has captured the imagination and the attention of many viewers. More than a million recipients chose to opt-in and join the activist mom group, which works to support crucial public policies to improve the lives of moms and families.

“Our video was funny and entertaining, but our basic message about economic security was extremely serious and that’s what resonated with our new members,” said MomsRising.org Executive Director Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner. “With single mothers earning only a fraction of their male counterparts’ salaries, children going without health care, and parents unable to stay home with sick kids without forfeiting pay or risking their jobs, we have a long way to go before our nation is truly-family friendly. Our new members want to get involved and change that.”

MomsRising.org has generated more than a million messages in the last year alone in support of several important family-friendly bills, including the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was the first piece of legislation signed into law by President Obama. It ensures that employees who experience pay discrimination based on race or gender have legal recourse. As a follow up, the group intends to put the weight of its exponentially larger membership behind the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would strengthen laws to prevent pay discrimination. The group has already circulated an “e-outreach” to its membership to generate support for the bill.

“We have accomplished much already, but with a larger membership, we can do even more,” said MomsRising.org President Joan Blades. “Our campaigns to improve the lives of our nation’s families have really touched a nerve and this dramatic membership increase is evidence that people really want to get involved in ensuring that moms and their families are treated fairly and stay healthy.”

MomsRising.org, only three years old, has received accolades for its leadership and online grassroots organizing from activists across the country and the globe.

The video was so well received that MomsRising.org has repurposed it so that instead of saying “Happy Mother’s Day” at the end, it now says: “Congratulations.” Now anyone can customize the video to honor a mom-friend on any special occasion such as a birthday, anniversary or a child’s high school graduation. It is available at: http://news.cnnbcvideo.com/index2.html

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MomsRising.org is an online grassroots organization that is working for paid family leave, flexible work options, excellent child care and health care for all children, and to stop the wage and hiring biases that penalize so many mothers today. MomsRising.org has more than one million members across the United States.

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